1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service server, and more particularly, to a service server which receives an image and other information from a communication device on the information supplier side, stores the received information, and provides it to a communication device on the information demander side for counter value.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional image management server has a definite storage period for an image uploaded from the image supplier side and a limited recording capacity.
A network photo-service system in which an image at the expiration of storage period among the images supplied for a network photo-service is deleted efficiently from the system without troubling the system administrator or operator was disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-203360.
However, the conventional network photo-service system as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-203360 had a drawback that if the image supplier forgot to update a storage contract of image stored in an image management server, the stored image was automatically deleted from the image management server regardless of the image supplier's intention, when the storage period for the stored image expired.
In particular, it is a significant loss for the image supplier that the important image with high utilization factor is deleted from the image management server.